


the problem with sponges

by remembermyfic



Series: 2019 Snail Mail Advent Calendars [12]
Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: F/M, Future Fic, Kid Fic, there are curse words
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:54:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25980076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/remembermyfic/pseuds/remembermyfic
Summary: “We had a small issue today during gym.”“Okay,” Jack says slowly.“We’re playing hockey in gym right now.”Jack laughs when Theo brightens right up. God, she and Connor are screwed. This kid’s as addicted to the game as they are. “Theo loves hockey.”“He’s good at it,” Veronica agrees. “However, he also seems to have soaked up some of the language of professional players that isn’t appropriate for a school gym.”
Relationships: Jack Eichel/Connor McDavid
Series: 2019 Snail Mail Advent Calendars [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1564486
Comments: 14
Kudos: 141





	the problem with sponges

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [I've forgotten what I started fighting for](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5417588) by [wonthetrade](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wonthetrade/pseuds/wonthetrade). 



> If you know the people, find the exit button. If you don't like the people or the ship, please do the same. 
> 
> In the meantime, meet Theo.

“Mama!”

Catching Theo is easy. At four, he’s still lanky, as he’s been since Jack’s twelve-hour labour; long and thin and never really gaining the baby chub she’d seen others gain. She could bench press eight copies of Theo without breaking a sweat. He’s chattering away in her ear about Maria and Nati and Kiannah, but when Jack meets his teacher’s gaze there’s regret and trepidation.

“Jack,” Veronica Sankat greets. “Do you have a moment?”

Jack has many moments, as she tends to do when it’s an off day and that means she doesn’t have to send the nanny to pick Theo up from school. “Of course!”

Theo turns quiet in her arms, repentant in a way she rarely sees him. Theo’s inherited Jack’s confidence and at the age of four, a little of her defiance. Watching him curl into her shoulder throws her off.

“We had a small issue today during gym.”

“Okay,” Jack says slowly.

“We’re playing hockey in gym right now.”

Jack laughs when Theo brightens right up. God, she and Connor are screwed. This kid’s as addicted to the game as they are. “Theo loves hockey.”

“He’s good at it,” Veronica agrees. “However, he also seems to have soaked up some of the language of professional players that isn’t appropriate for a school gym.”

Jack raises her eyebrow at Theo who looks down at where he’s playing with his fingers. It’s such a Connor look that Jack would be snapping a picture for him if the situation were less serious. “We talked about language.”

“I didn’t say your words,” Theo insists immediately and Jack feels her forehead wrinkle.

“My words?”

“The one that starts with F. Kassy sometimes hides my eyes when we watch you play because she says it’s a very bad word.”

Jack bites the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. It’s not funny, because hockey language is barely appropriate outside of the rink, let alone in a kindergarten gym class. Jack’s curbed most of the swearing she’s done after missed goals because she knows there are cameras on her now. Plus, Kassy had mentioned it once, not-so-off-handedly. Hence the conversation Jack has then had with Theo in regards to language that isn’t appropriate.

Veronica clears her throat and pulls them further to the side. “He was upset that the teacher didn’t call a penalty.”

Jack looks to Theo. “What have we said about respecting the officials?”

“It was a horseshit call! Aaiden hit me on the hands. That’s a penalty, Mama!”

It takes all of Jack’s willpower not to burst out laughing. Veronica looks put upon and a little resigned. Theo looks as lit up as Connor does when he’s incensed. Her son.

“I take it that was the word?” Jack asks, and shifts Theo in her arms.

“We have no idea where he could have picked it up.”

Yeah, Jack knows exactly where he picked it up. “We’ll talk at home.”

“Thanks,” Veronica says, and she looks relieved. Jack idly wonders which kid will throw ‘horseshit’ out now.

“… I’ll have to check with Jack. We haven’t talked about the summer yet.”

Theo’s face lights up. Jack had kept Connor’s arrival from their son because there is absolutely nothing like Theo when he’s surprised by his father’s presence.

“Daddy!”

Jack laughs as she wrangles Theo’s backpack and the coat and shoes he’d tossed haphazardly in the mudroom. When she hits the kitchen, Theo’s chattering away in Connor’s arms and they’re so identical that it never ceases to shock Jack. She drops the backpack on the counter and leaves them for a few moments as she unpacks Theo’s lunch. Theo’s eaten it all and Jack feels so grateful, once again, for the team she and Kassy are. Jack’s not a chef by any means, but between the two women, Theo heads to school with a quality lunch.

When there’s a lull and Jack’s packed all of Theo’s reuseable containers in the dishwasher, Jack turns to her boys.

“Ms Sankat was disappointed in your son today, McDavid.”

Connor raises an eyebrow at her. Theo’s beaming, like he knows Connor will not have anything to say about the language he’d used – like he might even be proud.

It’s Theo that picks up the story. “Aaiden smacked me on the hands in gym hockey and he didn’t get a penalty. It was a horseshit call, Daddy.”

Connor straight up winces.

“Uh huh,” Jack replied. “That is not one of my words.”

“Yeah,” Connor says on a resigned sigh. “Mitch and I were watching Dylan and Kells slashed him on the hands. We got a little heated.”

“In front of your sponge of a son, who literally picks up everything we say.”

“We talked about it,” Connor argues and looks at Theo. “Remember? Uncle Mitch was mad, but that doesn’t mean he should use those words either. Even if they’re about Auntie Dylan.”

“You said them too!”

Connor winces again. “It doesn’t mean we say them at school.”

“It wasn’t school,” Theo argues. “It was hockey!”

“Kiddo, hockey at school is still school.”

“And,” Jack says with a roll of her eyes. She didn’t set out to be the tough parent and it’s often hard with Theo, but she gets the risk of a kid going home and hearing how being raised the child of two hockey players doesn’t bode well for appropriate language. “It’s still not language we want to use.”

Theo huffs, lip turning down into a pout. “No one yells at you when you say it.”

“Not true,” Connor says and is he blushing? He’s totally blushing. “Grandma Kelly yells at me when she sees me on TV.”

“She does?”

Jack seconds the surprise in Theo’s voice. He’s looking at her now.

“Nannie doesn’t see me swear much.” Honestly, Anne’s more likely to get on Jack for her hair. She’s forever glad Theo inherited Connor’s hair. “What are we going to do about this language, buddy?”

Theo sighs and his little shoulders slump. “Say sorry.”

“To who?”

“Mr. Thompson,” is Theo’s petulant reply.

Jack approaches them and ruffles Theo’s hair. He’s a good kid, and he’s hers. Jack will always be grateful for that. “You want to use your words or make a card?”

Neither she, nor Connor are artsy people, but they’ve learned over time and Kassy and therapy that Theo sometimes prefers to avoid words. Which means she is unsurprised when Theo says, “A card.”

“Okay. You go get the stuff out. Daddy and I will be there in a minute.”

Connor looks reluctant to put Theo down, but Jack also hasn’t seen him in what feels like forever, and she wants her time to say hello too. She waits until his little feet have thumped off down the hall to turn back to Connor. “He said horseshit. To a teacher.”

Still, she lets Connor kiss her when he leans in, eyes alight. Yeah, he’s missed her too and he shows her in the greedy way he draws her in to kiss her. “Can we blame Mitch?”

“No,” Jack replies, right against his mouth. They’ve been together for years and eons and this still feels like everything. “Theo’s actual words were ‘they’re not your words, Mama’. Which means they’re yours, McDavid.”

Connor huffs. “We also told him it was a hockey word.”

“Uh huh. So he said it during hockey.”

“You know that’s not what we meant.”

“He doesn’t.” But even she can hear the amusement in her own voice. It is kind of funny, at the end of the day, her tiny little Connor lookalike using the language her all grown up Connor only uses when he’s in skates – the idea that he’s smart enough to differentiate between hockey and non-hockey. “So. You can go help your son make a card for using words you taught him, and I’ll see what we can do about snacks and dinner.”

Connor shakes his head, but he’s smiling when he kisses her. “It’s good to be home.”


End file.
